Trial of Egypt’s ousted leader resumes amid protests

Morsi, 14 others are charged with inciting killings

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A vehicle transporting a lawyer in the Morsi case was surrounded Saturday in Cairo by both protesters and journalists.

By Hamza Hendawi
Associated Press
February 02, 2014

CAIRO — A lawyer for Egypt’s ousted president Saturday told a Cairo court that it lacked jurisdiction to try Mohammed Morsi, saying the Islamist leader remained Egypt’s legitimate president because there has been no official decree removing him from office.

The hearing, the third since the trial opened in November, was held amid continuing militant attacks and a relentless crackdown on Morsi’s supporters, expanding those targeted to include Islamists who use social media against the military-backed government.

The comments by Morsi’s lawyer, the Islamist Mohammed Salim el-Awah, came as the trial of the ousted leader and 14 others on charges of inciting the killing of protesters in 2012 resumed amid tight security in a makeshift courtroom in the national police academy in an eastern Cairo suburb.

Morsi has insisted that he remains president, part of the Brotherhood’s broader strategy of defying the authority of Egypt’s new government at every turn. He was held in a soundproof glass cage in Saturday’s hearing and could only address the court directly if the judge allowed it.

The trial is one of four that Morsi and top Brotherhood leaders face. The charges leveled against them mostly carry the death penalty. Saturday’s hearing was adjourned until Tuesday to allow time for the examination by a panel of experts video footage presented by the prosecution as evidence. The defense challenged the authenticity of the videos in Saturday’s hearing.

Morsi was ousted by a military coup on July 3 that followed millions-strong demonstrations calling on him to leave office. He is being held at a high-security prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. His incarceration there followed four months of detention in an undisclosed location.

The case stems from violence outside the presidential palace in December 2012. Morsi’s supporters attacked opposition protesters, sparking clashes that killed at least 10 people. The defendants are charged with inciting the killing of three of those protesters.

Morsi’s three other trials are on charges of escaping from prison during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak’s rule; conspiracy with foreign militant groups to harm Egypt’s national security; and insulting the judiciary.

Awah contended that if Morsi was not formally dismissed, then he remains the legitimate president to this day and thus the law governing the trial of serving presidents must be observed, according to an account of the proceedings issued by the Egyptian Middle East News Agency.

Morsi and most of the other ddefendants turned their backs to the court when Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef played several video recordings of the clashes outside the palace in 2012. Morsi, however, remained mostly calm as he stood in his glass cage, in contrast to his outbursts during two previous court appearances In November and last week.

Anti-Morsi protesters outside the police academy briefly surrounded Awah’s car as it approached the gate. Some pounded on the car while others yelled insults.

Awah, a former presidential candidate, was unhurt and later stepped out of the car to complain to a senior police officer.

Egypt has been rocked by a wave of deadly violence since Morsi’s ouster, with the army and security forces facing a full-blown insurgency in the Sinai peninsula. The violence has spread to mainland Egypt, with attacks on high profile targets in Cairo growing more frequent.

There also have been near-daily protests by Morsi’s supporters. Marchers sometimes carry firearms and use them against security forces, with witness reports suggesting that this is becoming more frequent.

The military-backed government has meanwhile been cracking down on the Brotherhood and its allies, killing hundreds and jailing thousands since July. On Saturday, authorities announced the arrest of seven Morsi supporters for their alleged use of social media to incite the killing of police officers suspected of taking part in the crackdown against Brotherhood members.

The latest arrests take to 18 the number of Morsi supporters accused of using their Facebook pages to incite violence against the police, signaling an expansion of the crackdown against the Brotherhood.

In the latest violence, the Health Ministry on Saturday said one person was killed in Cairo and 35 were wounded in clashes on the previous day between police and Morsi’s supporters in Cairo and several other cities.

Also Saturday, a new Egyptian militant jihadi group issued its first statement, claiming responsibility for planting explosives and attacking security men and police stations.

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